The 2024-25 budget was delivered last week by the Albanese Government. As expected, this budgets main focus is on easing cost of living pressures and building a sustainable economic future. We’ve put together this overview covering the key points for households, students and businesses. If this raises any questions for you or your business, please feel free to get in touch with out friendly team here.

Key Take Aways:

- Budget surplus for a second year in a row
- Budget cuts for every Australian Taxpayer
- Everyone Australian household will receive a $300 cost of living rebate towards their electricity bills over the course of the year
- Rent assistance will increase a further 10%
- The government is making cuts to student debt accumulated through the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)
- Age Care workers will see a rise in income with the Award Wage being increased
- Support will be boosted with resources going into sustaining the high demand for services including emergency relief, food relief and financial support services
- Student nurses, teachers and social workers will now be paid for mandetory placements
- Housing initiatives will receive a boost

Cost of living: What’s in the budget for everyday households?

Cost of living is a huge topic for this years budget with pressures on households and family budgets.

Income Tax Cuts

The budget includes income tax cuts aimed at putting more money back into the pockets of working Australians. This provides immediate relief for households facing financial strain. From July 1 , 2024 the Government will:

• Reduce the 19% rate to 16%
• Reduce the 32.5% rate to 30%
• Increase the income threshold for the 37% tax rate from $120,000 to $135,000
• Increase the income threshold for the 45% tax rate from $180,000 to $190,000
  

Energy Rebates

A $300 energy bill rebate will be rolled out for all Australian households from July 1 2024. The rebate will be deducted from each households energy bills throughout the year — eg if you pay 4 x quarterly instalments, then $75 will be deducted from every bill.

Renewable Energy Investments

Increased funding will go towards renewable energy projects and initiatives aimed at reducing energy bills over the long term through the adoption of clean and sustainable energy sources.

Rental Assistance

Rent assistance will increase a further 10%, building on the 15% increase already made in September 2023.

More Housing for Vulnerable Australians

The budget is tackling social housing and homelessness with increases in funding going towards infrastructure and services for vulnerable Australians, including better support housing for women and children experiencing domestic violence.

Medicare Rebates

The Government will invest 2.8 billion to strengthen Medicare. This will go towards:

• Support in helping older Australians avoid hospital admission and them if they do need to go to hospital helping them be discharged earlier and improve their transitions out of hospital.
• Development of another 29 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics to provide more bulk billed appointments for Australians.
• Funding to address health care worker shortages by making it easier and quicker for international health practitioners to work in Australia.
  

Pharmaceutical Subsidies

Measures to enhance access to affordable prescription medications through subsidies or pricing reforms, ensuring that essential medicines remain accessible to all Australians.

Mental Health Support

The Government will fund a 888.1 million mental health package over 8 years to help people get care they need and make it easier to access services. This will include a free, digital service to provide a gap for people with mild mental health concerns. People will be able to access the service without a referral and receive quick, high quality support for their mental health needs. The service will be rolled out from 1 January 2026 and it is expected that 150,000 people will use the service every year.

Cost-of-Living Assistance Programs

Introduction of targeted cost-of-living assistance programs aimed at providing financial support to households grappling with rising expenses, such as groceries, utilities, and transportation.

Financial Counselling Services

Funding will go towards financial counselling services and resources to assist households in managing their budgets, navigating financial challenges, and accessing available support measures effectively.

Free Menstrual Hygiene Products

56 Million will go towards women’s sexual and reproductive health and as part of this, the Government will provide free menstrual hygiene products for rural and Indigenous Australians. Funding will also go towards providing support to women who have experienced miscarriages.

For Students

Student Debt Relief

The Government will cut $3 billion in student debt which will benefit more than 3 million Australians who have a Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and other student loan debt. The Government will cap the HELP indexation rate and the relief will be backdated to all student debt loans that existed on 1 June 2023 including:

• Higher Education Load Program (HELP)
• Vocational Education Training (VET)
• Australian Apprenticeship Support
• Other Student Loan Accounts
  

Paid Mandetory Placement

From 1 July 2025, Nurses, Midwives, School Teachers and Social Worker students will be paid a weekly wage of $325 when undergoing mandetory placements.

For Businesses

Energy Rebates

A $325 energy bill rebate will be rolled out for some Australian small businesses from July 1 2024. The rebate will be deducted from their energy bills throughout the year.

Improving Cashflow

The Government will extend the $20,000 instant asset write-off for another 12 months for businesses with less than 10 million annual turnover.

Supporting Business Owners with services

More resources will go towards providing business owners with support. Funding will extend the Small Business Debt Helpline which is a national, free and confidential phone-based financial counselling service for small-business owners. Along with that, the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program will also be extended which provides mental health support to small business owners.